Safety News

Gliding is an adventurous air sport. Competitions and expedition flying can add additional challenges. The human in us makes us particularly vulnerable and so understanding our own limitations is important. Making a conscious decision to stay within limits and by doing so manage the risk is an important part of…

The BGA encourages the use of electronic conspicuity to assist effective lookout. FLARM equipment is commonly utilised in much of the UK fleet of gliders, powered gliders and tugs. The CAA, which is on the one hand developing a future airspace strategy and on the other is required to safety-regulate…

A paraglider equipment manufacturer is using a paragliding flight instrument which has a built in FLARM transmitter, with the aim of improving safety for gliders and paragliders. The company involved report that its tricky to measure whether the equipment is proving effective in ‘active service’ and have asked if glider…

A significant number of air displays occur each year, many of which are provided with the protection of a Restricted Area (Temporary), more commonly described as a RA(T). Details of notified RA(T)s are available in the mauve pages within the NATS Aeronautical Information Circulars. NOTAMs provide the latest detail including…

A number of clubs are becoming increasingly concerned about overflights of their winch launch site. We are keen to collect data about this hazard and so request that all overflights of winch launch sites that are of concern are reported to the BGA using the BGA incident and accident report…

Following earlier approval by the BGA Executive Committee, Tim Freegarde, an experienced gliding instructor and BGA inspector, has taken over the role of BGA Safety Committee chairman. The Safety Committee is one of a small number of specialist sub-committees appointed by and reporting to the Executive Committee in support of…

The BGA publication ‘Managing Flying Risk’ notes that parachutes should be maintained and stored in accordance with manufacturer’s instructions. The BGA safety briefing ‘Parachuting after a mid-air collision’ is available here. The BGA’s Safety and Training YouTube channel includes a bailout presentation by G Dale that is based on his…

The BGA safe winch launching webpage has been updated. The professionally narrated video ‘how to winch launch safely Part 1’ is an excellent briefing and refresher for pilots of all experience levels. Watch the video here.